A novel by Elan Carson

Author Interview

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1. Why do I write? I write because I enjoy it, the process of pen to paper is relaxing.

2. What books did you love growing up? I loved the old bedtime book, hardy boys and the classic story’s like Black Beauty, Gulliver’s travels and such

3. What book should everybody read at least once? Gulliver’s travels, it’s a great book about bravery, over coming and acceptance.

4. Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and where you live now? I grew up in the projects of Detroit Michigan; it was a tough life, back then. Today I live in a beautiful part of Southern California, its quiet, beautiful and most of all its home.

5. How did you develop your writing? I just write, it usually begins with some kind of experience or feeling.

6. Where do you get your inspiration from? I love to write about life’s experiences, I’ve journaled for as long as I can remember, I’ve written poetry for family and friends but I always thought about writing a novel.

7. What is the hardest – getting published, writing or marketing? For me it was the editing process, getting all those thoughts and words condensed into a story that flowed well and made sense.

8. What marketing works for you? I’ve just really started getting into the marketing end of things, but so far social media has been good, I’ve met a lot of interesting people online.

9. Do you find it hard to share your work? Yes! Its really hard, I’ve been lucky so far, no one has had a negative thing to say, praise has been really difficult to accept, maybe even more difficult than negativity.

10. Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you? Most of my family has been awesome, my oldest daughter of course, she was the inspiration and the one who told me than I could do this. Some people have been a bit negative, but they seem negative about a lot of things. All of my friends kept asking how it was going, I’m not sure if they actually thought this would come to fruition, but they asked and helped keep me focused and on task.

11. Do you plan to publish more books? Yes, I’m actually working on one now.

12. What else do you do to make money, other than write? It is rare today for writers to be fulltime… I am blessed to be married to a wonderfully successful man; I’m also at an age where my needs are few. The kids are all out of the house, doing their own thing, so I have time to pursue my own interest and desires. I have the flexibility to learn and try new things.

13. How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk? I do all of these, as well as on the patio or in my family room in the lounge chair, it just depends on the time of day, mood or weather. I have many options.

14. Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support? There are a lot of people but mostly my husband; he gives me everything in order for me to follow my creative passions and of course my daughter Kristina. A long long time ago I had mentioned that someday I wanted to write a novel, she told me about a dream she had and I mentioned that it would make a good book and here I am….

15. Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you? I think I have found my success; being published is a great accomplishment. I write because I enjoy it, I know that I was lucky to get published, but to hear that others are enjoying my work, now… that’s success.

Beautifully Executed, Bravely Done

Baby Girl is a quick-paced short story following the adventures of one brave and street-savvy adolescent. Abandoned by her mother, “Cleo” has to learn to fend for herself and ultimately survive.

Descriptive, raw, and captivating, author Elle Klass does a great job of leading you through the mishaps, turmoil, and journey that the main character undergoes over the span of roughly a year.

Shorter structured sentences keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, as the pace is heightened and drops you like a rollercoaster into the harried, disjointed life of Cleo. Concise but beautiful descriptions, like “a stream of shrapnel flowed out of the barrel” or “rubber ducky yellow” made the story a visual treat.

I hungered for the author to include more vivid details and reference the other senses such as taste and touch, but otherwise, I could see exactly what the author had wanted me to.

I recommend this short story to anyone looking to escape into the adventure-packed landscape of one rough-around-edges teenager.

Interview With Elle

1) Tell me a little bit about yourself? (Where are you from? How long have you been writing? How many books you currently have out?)

I was born in Redwood City, California, now residing in Florida. I have been writing for a long time, although I hadn’t put a novel together until somewhere around eight years ago. Since, I have written many stories, most are still in rough draft format. I have one
published novel- As Snow Falls, a short story series- Baby Girl, and Eye of The Storm-written a 2013 NaNoWriMo winner, currently available at jukepopserials.com.

2) Where did the idea to writer Baby Girl come from? Are their any similarities are experiences that mirror your life?

Baby Girl was spawned from an image in my mind of a breathtakingly gorgeous woman walking up the steps to her New York brownstone. My mind is visual, and see’s pictures, many times conjuring images. As I started writing the story, it took a life of its own. All I knew was that eventually she would find out what happened to her mom, and it would be something compelling. Cleo’s beginning is nothing less than spectacular, although readers will have to wait until book 4 to learn the details, tidbits given along the way.

3) When naming the characters in your story, did you give any to the actual meaning?

Yes, I gave all the children nicknames that had meaning to them. Einstein- leader of the group was given that name because he’s clever. Cleo, short for Cleopatra because she is Mideastern in decent, however she has no idea, just gave away a secret. Star and Peewee follow suit as Star was the only girl in the group until Cleo, Peewee is just that the baby of the pack. Originally Peewee’s name was Baby but my editor thought that may be confusing to readers.

4) Who are your target readers?

My target audience for Baby Girl are young adults, but old enough to handle violence; I have found grown women seem to enjoy Cleo’s plight.

5) What are the major themes your work touches upon?

Young love, abandonment, and survival, survival, survival. I had a wise friend once tell me, “You have the ability to survive better that any other woman I have ever met”. Cleo’s character is most like me as she is a fighter who is always skeptical, yet able to have fun in life.

6) Who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to theirs?

I have many favorites, although V.C. Andrews Heaven series, My Seet Audrina, and Flower’s in the Attic series made an impression on me as a young adult. I still have the very well worn, loved books. My daughters have each read them and became as enthralled as I was. I wouldn’t say that my writing style is much like hers, it is uniquely my own, but the twisted family plot in Baby Girl could be compared somewhat.

7) Is Cleo’s story going to completed as a series of short stories or will you merge all of her life events into a full-length novel?

Eventually, I hope to merge the short stories into a full length novel. Actually, I have a sequel as well. She’s all grown up, living in her paradise, with more family twists hanging in the balance as well as some nearly forgotten, characters from the first set of 4 short stories. I wrote the first set of short stories as a full length novel, but separated them as each was its own story almost, and it’s been better for editing to do in smaller doses.

8) What other works can we expect from you in the future?

Currently, I have Eye of The Storm Eilida’s Tragedy available at jukepopserials.com. I am editing, and releasing a chapter a week. It is an offbeat horror/paranormal thriller. The protagonist Sunshine lives in an unrealistic fantasy world until she learns of Eilida who under mysterious circumstances was found at the base of Mt.Wilde. Sunshine’s world turns topsy turvey as the two women’s lives collide into a gory climax. I will be releasing the next 3 short stories in the Baby Girl series this year. I also hope to release Just Another Day in 2015, a crazy teacher story created from my decade long teaching experience. Joan and her students have an insane, action-packed, yet hilarious day.